Words for 2021

"Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you." Joshua 3:5

It's the last day of 2020. Much have been said about this year, good and not so good.

For me personally, I love this year for the intimacy and depth it's given me in my relationship with Abba. It is the year where my real identity was being revealed to me, along with promises and inheritances that come with it. Knowing who we are is the first step of reigning in the Kingdom. I wouldn't trade it with anything else, for now I will never be the same anymore. Truly the new has come, the old has passed away.

Why was it only made known this year (in my case)? I believe because it's the appointed time (kairos) that Abba has set it. The fullness of time has reached. So for you who are still searching and finding out, take heart, you will find it, stay believing and meanwhile, enjoy the ride with Abba.

I know the world celebrates new year on 1 January, but Abba operates through the Hebrew calendar and that's 18 September (Rosh Hashanah) when we entered the year 5781. You can say that we've been living in the future for slightly more than three months now, ahead of the rest of the world.

So what should you take heed as you enter 2021?

#1 Take spiritual inventory

I wanted to write this blog three days ago, but I had so much to grasp myself that I can only do so now. But I am glad I waited; I just spend the entire morning doing spring cleaning of my "spiritual cabinet". I was looking through all the promises and prophecies I have received so far (especially in 2020), be it through prophets, or directly from Abba, or through the Scripture. I then compiled them and wrote them down in a page (three actually), and I am not even quite done at the point of writing this.

I can't quite explain my emotions as I read them, I felt I was right there at the time the words were given to me. Overwhelmed. Grateful. Loved. And I can tell you exactly the setting, the time, and most importantly Abba's heart of each and every of those words. They are my precious treasures.

To close on why I love this year: I received about five life-changing, precious prophecies in the last 13 years, but I received more than 20 in 2020! And Abba said it's just the beginning! It's as if Heaven's gates were being open, pouring down massive slides of wealth. That's Abba's heart, and that's what I love the most!

But they are only promises, you might say.

The thing is, Abba's promises are everything! Because His words are as good as He is. When He promises something, He always keeps it. His words will never come back to Him void. So when you receive a promise or prophecy from Him, believe it, keep it in your heart, and visit it often until it comes to pass.

What are the words you have received from Abba this year? Write them down in a journal if you haven't and meditate upon them. Spend time with Abba and ask questions if you need to, to get richer words. They will be your weapons against greater chaos and disruptions the enemy will bring starting 2021. When you have promises or prophecies from Abba, trust those instead of the situations you see happening around you.

#2 Sanctify yourself

Three days ago when I was seeking Abba, and asking what I should be taking heed for the coming year, He brought me to the book of Joshua:

"Be prepared, for within three days you shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God gives you to possess it."

And one day before they crossed the Jordan river, Joshua commanded the children of Israel to sanctify themselves because God was about to do great wonders among them! Wow.

The word sanctify means to set apart, to dedicate oneself, or to focus. I have shared earlier this year that it's time to prune our lives - whatever that's stopping us from being focused on what He wants us to do or spend time in. For what's coming starting in 2021, we need that focus. Otherwise we will not be able to survive.

I truly believe if you are doing too many things, that is not from Abba. He is calling His children to simplify and to focus... to put your eggs in one basket. To do that you need faith - and faith comes through hearing and hearing what Abba is saying. That's why you need to take time and seek Him, so you can hear Him.

I heard the Holy Spirit's voice within me a few days ago, "This year (2020) is the year of training." I startled. He then continued, "Whatever you have gone through, remember those lessons because the real thing will start in 2021."

The next morning, as I was seeking Abba, He told me that come 1 January, it will be a clean slate. And I saw a piece of paper full of drawings turned into clean, empty white sheet - confirming the word He gave the day before: this year is the training year, or as many prophets have called it: year of preparation and even, a year of grace. We were given lessons and knowledge this year, but how we responded or applied them, that was not taken as real score, because it's just a training session.

What to prepare for?

For famine, it will start in 2021 and this famine is not just in economic area but all areas including spiritual.

And this is the heart of Abba: He will not let turbulent times come without warning His children, and He does this through His prophets (Amos 3:7). So while the enemy is sowing chaos and fear this year, Abba has been asking us to draw nearer to Him and wait upon Him so that we can mount up with wings like the eagles (Isaiah 40:31).

The only way for us to see a storm and avoid it is to be in a high place and then soar above the storm. Being in a high place speaks about our communion and intimacy with Abba, where we take time with the King as He reveals strategies and secrets to come. That's why watchmen always station themselves in high towers, and we are called to be watchmen especially more so in these last days.

I hope you have spent 2020 wisely, but if not, learn your lessons (as I do), write them down, recognise the biggest time wasters in your life, and be super alert as not to repeat those in 2021, where the real test happens. Trust me, you can't afford it!

#3 Soak, soak, soak in His presence

Double down and even triple down soaking in Abba's presence. And to be able to do that, you need time. Sounds simple, right? But you will be surprised at how much distractions you will encounter the moment you've set it in your heart that you will seek Him more. And often, these distractions they don't appear to be bad, but at the end of the day, you feel frustrated and defeated because you know you didn't get to spend time with Abba.

For me, I've learned that firsthand and hard this year. And guess what else I've learned? Satan is so very afraid when we are intimate with Abba. Because he knows when we do that, we will know who we are, our purpose, and our authority. He will do whatever it takes, good and bad, to distract us from soaking in Abba's presence.

Hence I guard my time very fiercely. I am no longer spend hours in malls, unless I have specific things to buy. I will get His permission before making appointment with a friend or agreeing to meet up (I've turned away a few this year). I will make sure I am in bed by 8 pm and sleep by 830 pm since I have to wake up early to seek Him.

You have your own routines obviously, but find a good rhythm, cut off unnecessary and time-waster activities, no matter how good they seem, especially if God is no longer wanting you to do them. Ask Holy Spirit for wisdom to guide you in doing so.

Year 2021 is full of Abba's promises for His children, and I believe we are entering our promised land, but just like Joshua and the children of Israel they still have to fight to take the land. What I shared above is simply ammunitions and strategies to claim your promised land. I hope you use them and you have been blessed.

Royally His,

Esther